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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 10, 2016)
ART OF THE NIGHT COAST WEEKEND • INSIDE DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2016 144TH YEAR, NO. 95 ONE DOLLAR Gillnetters, recreational anglers renew battle Plan would allow limited netting in Columbia River By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Bureau SALEM — More than 100 people fi lled Oregon Depart- ment of Fish and Wildlife’s meeting room Wednesday as the state wildlife commission heard testimony on the sta- tus of Columbia River salmon and steelhead runs and how they are harvested by com- mercial and sport anglers. The commission is con- sidering staff recommenda- tions, including a “rebalance” to the bi-state Columbia River Reform plan that would allow limited use of gill- nets in the Columbia’s main stem rather than phase them out completely as previously planned. The commission won’t take additional action on the recommendations until December, but the argument is hot and divisive. Recreational anglers, including fi shing guides and led by the Coastal Conserva- tion Association, are furious at the proposal and consider it a betrayal of the four-year tran- sition plan agreed to by Ore- gon and Washington. Dozens of them piled into the meet- ing room, many wearing red CCA hats and sporting stick- ers proclaiming “No broken promises.” In a letter to commis- sion members, CCA Oregon Chairman Dave Schamp said it would be irresponsible to allow the gill net fl eet’s con- tinued use of “archaic and destructive gear.” He and oth- ers believe beach and purse See NETTING, Page 7A Maritime Museum receives $1 million Longtime patrons create endowment By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian Photos by Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian A rescue swimmer is lowered into the water from a helicopter as other Coast Guardsmen exit the water during training exercises Monday at Fort Stevens State Park. More photos online at DailyAstorian.com SWIMMING TO THE RESCUE Coast Guard rescue school pairs swimmers and helicopters By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian U .S. Coast Guard helicopter crews from around the country took to the waves and cliffs around the mouth of the Columbia River over the past month for the Advanced Helicop- ter Rescue School, testing their mettle in some of the roughest conditions faced by rescuers. See RESCUE SCHOOL, Page 7A Senior Airman Allen-Mikel Armstrong, para rescueman from Alaska Air National Guard’s 212th Rescue Squadron, removes equipment while taking a break from training exer- cises on Monday at Fort Stevens State Park. ‘The Coast Guard is the best at all rescue -swimmer aspects.’ Allen-Mikel Armstrong The Columbia River Maritime Museum has received a $1 million endowment from longtime patrons David and Anne Myers. The couple was honored at the 54th annual meeting, where Museum Execu- tive Director Sam Johnson announced the endowment. The Myers were in Astoria Tuesday to talk about their contribution. “We basically try to support education,” David Myers said. “That’s the one David thing we can leave.” Myers The couple, living in Portland, purchased a unit in the Columbia House Condominiums in 1984. Shortly thereaf- ter, they became mem- bers of the museum, which had recently built its cur- rent location near the 17th Anne Street Dock. The couple Myers have been trustees since 1990, and David Myers, 89, has been on the museum’s board off and on for at least eight years. “Over the years, we’ve watched the impact the museum has had on Astoria,” he said. The Maritime Museum, founded in 1962, is experiencing record attendance, up to 150,000 visitors a year, Deputy Director Dave Pearson said . “That whole image of the town has been really uplifted, and properly so,” Myers said. “I point to the museum as one of the primary reasons.” Background David Myers traces his love of muse- ums to time spent studying anthropology at Beloit College in Wisconsin. There, the Myers also supported the Logan Museum of Anthropology. Despite his love of anthropology, Myers See MUSEUM, Page 9A one of two pararescuemen on the North Coast this week for training CREST pushes back against Warrenton on dam Attorney criticizes city fact-fi nding report By DERRICK DePLEDGE The Daily Astorian An attorney for the Colum- bia River Estuary Study Taskforce called a Warren- ton fact-fi nding report on the Eighth Street Dam “extremely careless” and asked the city to refrain from making damaging comments or risk legal action. Jeanne Kallage Sinnott, a Portland attorney for CREST, said the city’s report has placed the task force and staff in a negative light. “Setting aside all of the fac- tual inaccuracies, what is per- haps most troubling is that the report repeatedly pur- ports to be an investigation of the so-called ‘record,’ but the ‘record’ investigated is woe- fully incomplete, rendering the report not credible and extremely careless,” Sinnott wrote in a letter Monday to Akin Blitz, a Portland attorney representing the city. CREST withdrew from an agreement with the Ski- panon Water Control District to remove the dam as a hazard and to improve fi sh passage and water quality on the Skipanon River. The task force’s decision came after the City Commis- sion in May declined to renew a $1.2 million deal with the task force and the water district that would have given the city a sin- gle-lane bridge over the river after the dam was removed. Blitz’s fact-fi nding report in September concluded that the city owned the dam and should take possession of the structure from the water district, either for fl ood control or as an asset that can be removed later for wetland mitigation credits for a development project. Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian See CREST, Page 7A The future of the Eighth Street Dam in Warrenton is in doubt as the city and water district wrangle over control.
